Kesha

Soulcraft Jewelry

After graduating from the University of Michigan I worked for the Episcopal Church from 1996-2012. As an ordained priest, my congregations and ministry were Spanish speaking communities in the Diocese of Los Angeles. In 2012 everything changed when I had a stroke and my husband, son, and I moved home, to Minnesota. I was lucky to make a full recovery from the stroke and that led me to begin a journey of another kind of recovery, this time from an eating disorder I have had since I was 9 years old. It was while I was in intensive treatment my recreational therapist challenged me to do something my eating disorder had never let me do. I sifted through the list of the many, many things and realized how much I wanted to do art; I wanted to make things with my hands. I loved jewelry for the kind of self expression it allowed so I found a class and began learning. I fell in love and have been learning every since. I have always had a hard time believing I am enough yet every time I sit at my bench or start my torch my soul reassembles piece by piece. My real self grows a little more and I reclaim the life that was taken from me by my eating disorder. I was creating enough and received many comments from people interested in buying my jewelry. The seed of starting a business was planted. (Also, it’s a REALLY expensive hobby!) However, it couldn’t just be a business. It has to be my SoulCraft. It had to mean more than just making money. It had to engage the community. I officially start my business with a jewelry gathering and launch celebration on November 21, 2015. 5% of each sale will go to The Emily Program, the treatment center where I still receive treatment. I hope one day to be able to provide scholarship money to those whom insurance has abandoned. I also hope to advocate for eating disorder awareness and education and mental health (in general) on a much larger scale. Furthermore, I dream of being able to partner with programs around the metro area such as the Emily Program and Gilda’s Club who are working with clients in need of an artistic outlet and bring art nights to them so they can create beautiful things that show everyone including and especially the clients that they are enough! They are capable! They are beautiful! They are worthy! They are amazing human being and they are over- comers! My business is about healing. Healing me, healing those who wear my jewelry, and healing those whom the profits will benefit.